MISSION BAY COMES ON STRONG IN THE END

Buccaneers to face Cathedral Catholic in Division III final

SPRING VALLEY 
Once a team reaches the playoffs the idea is to advance. It doesn’t have to be pretty, but winning keeps moving the successful outfits to the right side of the bracket.

Anything less and the season is over.

Mount Miguel used a 7-2 run to take a 32-25 advantage in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter of Tuesday’s San Diego Section Division III semifinal. But that’s when the Matadors stalled and visiting Mission Bay locked in behind the shooting of Vince Petties-Wilson and Jerald Albritton.

“All of our starters are seniors,” said Petties-Wilson. “We were not ready to see our season end tonight, but then we never give up — no matter what the score is.”

Mission Bay (18-7) moved in front for keeps on a 3-pointer and a transition layup by Albritton to lead 46-42 in the fourth quarter. The Buccaneers continued on for a 55-49 victory to advance to Saturday’s championship game against Cathedral Catholic at Jenny Craig Pavilion at 2:45.

“Obviously this was one of our biggest wins because we had to play catch-up,” said Petties-Wilson, who scored 14 points and collected eight rebounds. Seven of his points came in the final period when the Bucs claimed a 19-11 scoring edge.

Albritton also tallied 14 points for the Bucs, while James Cloud pounded the boards for 12 rebounds.

“Jerald and I compete with each other all the time in practice and that shows in the games,” Petties-Wilson said. “We’re actually similar kind of players — we’re both fast. The mid-range jumper is the main part of my game while Jerald tends to favor the 3-point shot.”

Albritton hit two 3-pointers against the Matadors (24-7).

Mission Bay’s defense sealed off the paint against the smaller Matadors, who were forced to do most of their scoring from the perimeter.

Junior Izzy Wagner paced Mount Miguel with 19 points, including a pair of treys. Point guard Marcus Booker finished with 15 points for the Matadors. He also hit two threes. But collectively Mount Miguel, which nailed 10 triples against Imperial in the quarterfinals, managed to net only four of 17 from long distance.